WASHINGTON, Jan. 22 (UPI) -- It may be some weeks before the revived intelligence authorization bill, voted out by a U.S. Senate committee last week, gets to the floor, say staff.
A senior staffer on the Senate Intelligence Committee told United Press International that the bill would be formally filed this week after the expected submission of additional views by some members.
Democrats Ron Wyden (Ore.) and Russell Feingold (Wisc.), were expected to make comments about a pilot program authorized by the law, suspending some provisions of the Privacy Act for a time to make counter-terrorism information-sharing easier.
The staffer also said some Republican members of the committee might file comments about its provisions declassifying the top line of the U.S. intelligence budget and imposing what they see as excessive reporting requirements on intelligence agencies about their detention and interrogation of terror suspects.
Once the bill was filed, the staffer said, the Armed Services Committee could request a referral, but pointed out that the bill was almost identical to the one signed off on by that committee last year.
"Whatever happens (with the Armed Services Committee) we expect it to be expeditious," said the staffer, noting the close relationship between the two chairmen.
But he said it was likely to be "next month at the earliest" before the measure got to the floor.
